Maple Crusade
by Hybird
Summary: Jaratenn left his home land to choose his own path. What adventures await for him on Victoria Island lies within his decisions. My first serious fan fiction, Reviews Encouraged.
1. Chapter Zero

_Chapter Zero_

_I watched the waves hit side of this huge boat in boredom. There wasn't much else to do on this hunk of floating firewood. Not to mention the captain is a whiney little brat. Not that I'm complaining about his skills as the ship's captain or anything, but I've never seen somebody try to feed a paying customer to a gold toothed shark just because he jokingly called him "Captain Kid," that's just a little excessive if you ask me._

_I turned to watch some of the other passengers play cards, but even the hilarious fact that one of them was loosing so badly that he was in a his under didn't even break my boredom down... Just a few short days ago, I was running like a dog with his tail in between his legs from at least 20 Orange Mushrooms, thanks to Mai purposely provoking them. "It's good training to fight a mass of stronger enemies," she told me. Yeah, a small mass maybe, but I think it's a little much when the Mushrooms are fighting for a spot to jump and press all of their weight on me!_

_Mai was a nice person, aside from the fact she would get you nearly killed with her training lessons. Of course, I wasn't in that bad of shape, since I came from a place where fighting was a must, so my endurance is fairly high..._

_... Home..._

_I wonder how many lives where lost since I left the continent..._

_"Victoria Island up ahead!"_

_Land? LAND! YES! I can finally get off this thing!_


	2. Victoria Rumble

_**Maple Crusade**_

_Rumble at Lith-Harbor_

Jaratenn impatiently jumped off the side of the large ship and landed on solid ground after weeks of being on a boat, on rough waters no less. Jaratenn felt like a bath toy from all the constant rocking, so much so that he almost fell when he took his first few steps on the solid ground below him.

Lith Harbor was the most important place for young fighters that were seeking for a solid path to train in. This was because, not only was the harbor of the port-town called Lith the first place many beginners saw on Victoria, but there was a man called Olaf, who often helped beginners choose what path they wanted to take... So long as they answered a set of questions correctly...

Jaratenn wandered around the harbor for a while, until his post-sea sickness faded away, and then began to ask around for the whereabouts of Olaf. As he asked a few locals, Jaratenn took in sight of Lith. Most, if not all of the buildings in the city was made out of stone and wood, all seemed very sturdy, and mysteriously had no signs of any mixture to keep the buildings together, although Jaratenn heard rumors that all the buildings were kept together by a local monster called Slime, he had a little trouble in believing it.

"Hey Kid!"

Jaratenn turned his head to follow the voice to its owner, and came eye to eye with a gigantic octopus. "WAAH!" Instinctively, Jaratenn jumped back and fell on his tail bone, and the tentacle creature, alarmed by Jaratenn's reaction, squirted ink on the young man's face.

"Sorry about that lad, didn't expect you to be frightened by the catch of the day." Jaratenn wiped the ink off of his face and a few strands of his auburn hair with his shirt and looked up. A bearded man wearing a blue bandana with a white anchor symbol on it, and holding a red and white inner tube, held out his hand to help Jaratenn up. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," Jaratenn muttered as he took the man's hand and lifted himself up, "aside from getting free ink, I'm okay."

"Th' names Pason."

"I'm Jaratenn."

"I'm guessing you're one of the beginners that arrived from Maple Island, right?"

"Um... Yeah. Hey, do you happen to know where a guy named Olaf is?"

"So you're looking for Olaf too huh? You must be looking for a Job." Pason turned and pointed to Jaratenn's left. "If you go that way, past the Potion Shop, you should see the big lug, you can't miss the guy! But you better hurry; Olaf will call it quits for the day soon."

"What! I better get going! Thanks for your help Pason," Jaratenn called out, as he made his way down the road.

Pason smiled and shook his head. 'He has no idea what he's getting himself into... I hope Olaf doesn't rough him up too much...'

* * *

Olaf stood in the middle of a large crowd that mainly consisted of beginners looking for advice on job advancing. "Come now! Who here has the guts to take the Mighty Olaf on!"

The crowd murmured, for some reason, body wanted to give what many claimed to be "an easy test." Jaratenn stood behind the large crowd, pushing them out of his way, eager to take the test. "Hey! Whoa! I'll do it!" Jaratenn made his way through the crowd and took a deep breath. He had a few... Issues... When it came to large crowds of people. "I'll... Take your quiz..."

Olaf scratched his chin and chuckled. "Sorry lad... But I'm done quizzing Beginners for the day!"

"W-what! Aw man! I can't believe I came all the way from Maple Island just to be turned down!"

_'Maple Island,'_ thought Olaf, _'could he be the student of Mai? Maybe I can kill two birds with one stone then!' _Olaf smirked as the idea popped inside his head. "Well, maybe we can cut a deal. I'll give you one test, and if you pass it, I'll tell you what you need."

"One test... All right! I'll accept! But... What's the test?"

Olaf took a few steps forward a smiled as he looked down at Jaratenn. "To beat me in a fight."

"Oh sure, I ca- WAIT, WHAT!"

Too Late.

By the time everything registered in Jaratenn's head, Olaf had already swung his feet, and made a clean impact with Jaratenn's jaw, sending him flying into a part of the crowd, who pushed him back in as they began to yell and shout. Olaf swung his other fist, but Jaratenn ducked and rolled out of the way. As Jaratenn stood to his feet, he pulled his arm back and attempted to punch Olaf in his lower back to send him to his knees. Unfortunately, it didn't affect the gigantic Viking in the least. Olaf swung his right arm back and missed Jaratenn only by an inch. As Jaratenn ducked, he tightened his right leg and shot back up, kicking Olaf in his side, but that also had little to no effect on the huge man, who clenched his arm down on the leg, trapping Jaratenn. Olaf took advantage of the situation and twisted, dragging a surprised Jaratenn through the air along with him.

As Olaf let go, Jaratenn was flung to the ground, bouncing upon impact. Jaratenn flipped to his feet in mid air and made a dash for Olaf, as he came near the large blonde Viking, Jaratenn leapt into the air and swung his foot, right into Olaf's chin. In mid air, Jaratenn switched sides and slammed his left shin into the left side of Olaf's jaw, and switched to his right foot and hook-kicked the back of Olaf's head. As Jaratenn swung around behind Olaf by using the hook he had on the back of Olaf's head, he brought up both of his knees to his chest, and pushed the out at an fast pace, slamming both of his feet into the back of Olaf's head, sending the big man to his knees.

Jaratenn front flipped and landed on his feet, his balance slightly unstable from kicking Olaf's rock-hard jaw. The natives of Lith were, to say the least, stunned, that some kid had actually brought the big and strong Olaf to his knees. Olaf got up to one knee and laughed, the same cheerful smile plastered on his face. "Not bad little one."

Jaratenn spun around in surprise. _'What I gotta do to take this guy out, hit him with bolder!'_

"But not... GOOD ENOUGH!" Olaf suddenly got up and ran towards the alarmed Jaratenn. The Viking reached out with his huge right hand, and grabbed Jaratenn's face, before slamming him down into the ground, basically forcing the beginner's breath to escape his lounges, and rendering him nearly unconscious.

Olaf stood up and took a few steps away from Jaratenn, desperately gasping for air. "Maybe I went too far..."

"OLAAAAAAF!"

That was the last thing Jaratenn heard before slipping into a state of unconsciousness.


	3. Rogues Th' Way to Go

_Ch.2: Rogue's the Way to Go_

Jaratenn moaned as he came to, the back of his head and his upper back ached in pain from Olaf's pie-face slam, not to mention it hurt like hell to take a deep breath. He slowly sat up and looked around, noticing that he was no longer outside laying on the ground, but instead a bed. Jaratenn, not quite able to move around, laid back down, none too happy about the situation he was in.

"... I lost..."

Jaratenn's head shifted to the right as he heard a door open nearby. A plump, dark brown haired woman stood at the other end of the door holding what looked like bandages, and some food. "So, you're finally awake huh?" The lady smiled as she the tray on a stand by the bed and sat on a chair. "You've been out for almost a day now."

"A day...?" Jaratenn sat up again, this time with a little less of a struggle.

"Yup, I found you out cold, that overgrown oath Olaf knocked you for a loop!"

"Yeah..." Jaratenn's confused expression changed to a disappointed one.

"What's wrong?"

"Well... The only reason I got into a fight with Olaf was the he agreed that if I won, he'd tell me what to do for a job advancement… But I was beaten so easily..."

"Don't beat yourself up, Olaf's too powerful for most people." The kind Lady stood up and headed for the door. "You should eat up and rest a little more.

"Hey uh," Jaratenn started, "I didn't catch your name."

"Oh! So sorry about that. It's Mina. And what would your name be?"

"Jaratenn."

* * *

Within a few short hours, Jaratenn was up on his feet and feeling 100 percent. Turns out Mina owned the local potion shop, and she had put some health potions in the soup, causing Jaratenn to heal far quicker than usual. Jaratenn pulled on some new clothes on that Mina got for him, an Orange and Black T-shirt, and a pair of black baggy pants, and then headed downs stairs.

"You overgrown blockhead! You could have killed him!"

"I, OW! Know! OW! I came here to- OW! Apologize to hi- OW!"

"Uh... What's going on...?" Jaratenn scratched his head at the sight in front of him. It took four of Jaratenn's best kicks to take down Olaf to one knee, but it only took one, now broken, wooden spoon for Mina to bring the Viking to his knees, holding the back of his head! _'Man... Wish I thought of that….'_

* * *

"Are you SURE that's what you want to do?"

"Yeah..."

"Then I have one more question," Olaf started, his eyes and locked on Jaratenn's while holding a pack of ice on his head. Mina wiped a few glass potion bottles while watching the two sit in silence. "Why that class?"

"Let's just say I've always been skilled in stealth like situations."

Olaf leaned back in his chair and sighed. "Kerning City... It's a city north of here, but due to some unsteady paths, you have to go around… If you really want to become a Rogue, that's where you should head. Find a guy named Dark Lord, he's the leader of all Rogues."

_'Kerning City,' _Jaratenn thought to himself as he slowly balled his hand into a fist 'Dark Lord... _'That's where I need to go to next...'_ Jaratenn slowly stood up. "I better get going then."

"What," Mina started, "Already!"

"Yeah, it'd probably be best if I try to get half way there before night falls. And since it IS sort of a long way from here, it's probably best I leave now..."

"Well," Mina started, "why not take the taxi?"

Jaratenn turned to Mina. "Taxi?"


	4. TAXI!

_Ch.2: TAXI!_

Ral drove the local Taxi Cab all around Victoria Island. Due to the fact that Victoria was a big, and pretty dangerous place, his prices for driving somebody ranged from a steep 1k, to 1.2k in Mesos. For those who are new to Victoria however, could pay a mere fraction of the price, 120 Mesos being the most newbies had to pay.

Ral tilted his head back and sighed, his favorite lollipop in his mouth. Business wasn't as good as it used to be, and he was bored out of his mind.

"Yo!"

Ral tilted his shades up, and shifted his beady eyes over to a young man holding a sack over his shoulder, and a sword trapped in between his pants and belt. "What's up? You need somethin'?"

"You drive one of the Victoria Cabs, right?"

"The ONLY Victoria Cab, the rest of the chumps wussed out. Why?"

"How much would it cost for you to get me to Kerning," Jaratenn asked.

"I'm guessing you're new to Victoria," Ral muttered as he pushed himself away from his car, "So for you... About 120 Mesos."

"That's it?" Jaratenn scratched the back of his head. Olaf, as an added piece of apology, gave Jaratenn a few thousand Mesos. He told him that a chunk of the money would help pay for the fare, but it turns out it was only going to be a small fraction. "Deal!"

"Alright then, hop in."

* * *

Jaratenn desperately held onto his stomach as Ral recklessly drove on the jagged road. Luckily, Jaratenn was wise enough to put on the seat-belt... After the first dip Ral hit, that caused Jaratenn to bump his head on the roof of the car.

He learned his lesson.

"Do you always drive this fast!"

"Yeah!" Ral turned to look at Jaratenn and grinned, the stick, now candy-less, still in his mouth. "I gotta drive fast, otherwise, I'd loose my reputation of being 'the fastest Cab of all time,' y'know?"

"Tree, tree, TREE!"

"Whoops!" Ral made a sharp turn to avoid the tree, causing Jaratenn to knock his head upside the window. "Sorry 'bout that. Hey, what's with you?" Jaratenn's eyes swirled in daze, as a large red knot started to form at the top right side of his head. "Did y' hit your head or somethin'?"

An hour or so passed, and Jaratenn quietly watched the scenery pass by. The path to Kerning was an interesting one; Jaratenn could see the sea in the distance, behind a field of large, uncut grass. The trees that were nearby were large, and took at least a minute to pass by, even at Ral's fast pace. As the ocean disappeared, a small forest appeared in the distance. The trees weren't as big as the tress Jaratenn saw earlier, but they were still fairly large.

"Uh-oh..."

Jaratenn snapped out of his mentally wandering state and looked at Ral. "What?"

"Looks like there's some trouble up ahead..."

Jaratenn rolled down the window and leaned out to see what was happening. It was a little far to see, but it looked to be three giant mushrooms chasing an elderly man. "Orange Mushrooms?" Jaratenn shuddered, remembering his incident with the hopping creatures, via Mai's training. "Stop the car."

"Say what! You can't be seriously thinking about fighting them!"

"Yeah, now pull over!"

"I gotta find a new line of work..." Ral twisted the wheel to the left and slammed on the brakes, causing the car to come to a sliding halt. Jaratenn didn't bother to let the car come to a full halt, as he took hold of his sword and jumped out the window. As he made impact with the ground, Jaratenn rolled to avoid any damage, and pulled his blade out as he rolled up to one knee. Jaratenn jumped and up and a run for the nearest Mush, quickly taking it out with one slice from behind, making the creature let out a huge agonizing shriek of pain. The other two stopped chasing the man, and turned to their brother's killer. The two began jump towards Jaratenn, who was already prepared for a two on one fight. Jaratenn dodged around the first Mush and kicked the second at full force before elbowing the first that tried to sneak up and jump on him.

Both Mushrooms were knocked back down the second they got up when Jaratenn dropkicked one of the two, then used the force to back flip and kangaroo dropkicked the other. As Jaratenn landed on his knees, he took the tip of his blade and impaled it into the head of the first Mush, then spun around into a one-knee stance and slashed the second one without any hesitation, as it tried to sneak up and attack him.

Jaratenn stood up, and placed his blade back in its holder, then turned to the man. "Are you alright," he asked as he knelt down before the man.

"I think I injured my knee from running... But, I think I can walk..." The man tried to stand on his feet, but lost his balance, and fell back down.

"From the looks of it, you should probably stay off of it for a while." Jaratenn placed the man arm over his shoulders and helped him stand up, guiding him back to where Ral stopped the Taxi.

Ral got out of the car and rushed over to the two. "What the heck happened? Did you really take out all three of them?"

"Yeah, wasn't easy though." Ral took the man's other arm and placed it over his shoulder, and helped the man to inside the car. "Hey Ral, do me a favor" Jaratenn started as he pulled his bag out the car and shut the door. "Take this guy to wherever he needs to go."

"And what about you? I can't just leave you out here."

"Yeah ya can. How long is it to Kerning from here?"

"Nearly a day's worth of a walk. Are you SURE you can make it by yourself?"

"Yeah, I'll be cool."

"All right... But you owe me!"

"Yeah yeah!" Ral got into car and drove off, while Jaratenn turned and made his way for Kerning City on foot.


	5. Dark Confrontation

_Ch.4: Dark Confrontation_

Jaratenn leaned against the red wall in exhaustion. The journey towards Kerning was tough. He had to climbs steep hills, walk through a long maze like field, not to mention he had a run in with a huge pig, covered in ARMOR of all things, but he finally made it to the south entrance of Kerning. Jaratenn shook off his exhaustion and made his way into the darks red brick streets of Kerning.

The Fusion Bar Jazz quietly stood in the center of Kerning. Very few knew that this particular bar was the starting point for all up and coming Rouges, and was home to the top Rouge himself Dark Lord. Jaratenn stood at the entrance of the Jazz and looked up. While he was making he way to Kerning, he ran into a full fledged Rogue who told him that if he wanted to find Dark Lord, the Fusion Bar Jazz would be where at. But something the Rogue told him as he left still lingered in Jaratenn's mind.

"Just because you know what building he's in... Doesn't mean you know where he is. Good luck, you'll need it..."

"What did he mean by that," Jaratenn muttered to himself as he opened the old rusty metal door. The bar was lit by violet neon ceiling lights, as well as the bright juke box in the corner. Jaratenn slowly walked down the old steps and searched around for any living soul.

"Hello? Any body here?" Jaratenn scanned the area, but nobody was in sight. "Talk about lousy customer service..." Jaratenn shifted his eyes to his left and saw a bathroom sign on the wall. "Might as well. Maybe somebody will be around when I get back."

Jaratenn jammed his pants into his pockets and pushed the men's bathroom door open. As he took a few steps inside, he suddenly noticed that he lost absolute control of his balance, he also notices that his body suddenly felt like gravity grabbed him by the ankles and yanked down. Then it hit him.

There was absolutely no ground beneath him, and he was falling at an alarming rate. Instinctively, Jaratenn's eyes shot around, trying to find something to break his fall. A ladder came into his sight, and without hesitation Jaratenn shot his right arm out and took hold of one of the ladder's steps. Jaratenn's arm felt like it was about to pop out of its socket, and the sudden drop made the young traveler disoriented. But all of his senses snapped to attention when he heard cracking metal.

"You have got to be shiting me..."

The ladder's step Jaratenn was clinging on to suddenly snapped in half, and Jaratenn was once again plummeting at a fast pace. Quickly thinking, the future rogue took hold of his sword's handle and pulled out the blade. His injured arm flinched in pain, but Jaratenn ignored the pain and jammed the end of the sword into the nearby wall, and lifted his body enough to place the on the same wall in an attempt to slow his decent. For what seemed like hours, Jaratenn's hands clenched on his sword handle and his feet jammed into the wall as he slid down the wall. Finally, he stopped, his sword caught onto something in the wall that it couldn't cut into. But even though he was no longer dropping like a rock, his arm was in so much pain that he knew he couldn't hold on much longer even if he wanted to, not to mention the sudden changed a gravitational force when he stopped himself from dropping twice, did damage to other parts of his body.

Finally, his arm gave in, and the rest of his body couldn't respond fast enough as it all began to shut down, and he began to slip into an unconscious state. As he once again dropped to what looked to be his doom, Jaratenn's functions started to work again as his eyes showed the image of solid ground rapidly approaching.

"Crap!"

Jaratenn shifted his body and flipped backwards as he stuck his right leg out and made impact with the wall behind him. He used the momentum to jump off the wall and plant his feet on the wall in front of him, then jumped off of that wall and collided the ground below him with enough force to kick up loose dirt on the ground. Jaratenn stayed in the squatted position for a second before dropping face first from exhaustion. "I guess this is what that guy meant when he said 'Good Luck, You'll Need It.' He could have been more specific..."

Jaratenn used his good arm to lift himself up and move down the dark hall, following the dim light at the other end. As he neared the light, Jaratenn tightened his fist, unsure of what other trap could be waiting for him. But not a single trap was set to catch any intruders, which made Jaratenn even more alert. What if Dark Lord didn't need more than one trap? Could he be that powerful?

Jaratenn chased away those fears, he couldn't think stuff like that, he was in bad enough shape, he didn't need fear to be a factor as well if it did come down to a fight.

The well lit room had a large ring in it, judging by its ropes' structure, it was most likely used for sparing in the martial arts department. Various weapons lay around the ring, as well as some posters hanging on the walls. In one corner, something odd caught Jaratenn's eye. It looked to be a life-like statue hanging upside down.

Only...

It was snoring.

"Hey" Jaratenn called out, yet received no answer. In anger, the future Rogue picked up a nearby tennis ball, and with his good arm, chucked it at the sleeping man. The ball bounced off of the man's headband and into a nearby trash can.

"Zzzz- Whazut?" The man slowly opened his eyes and scratched the back of his head in confusion. As he slowly moved his head around, his eyes caught Jaratenn. "... May I help you," the man muttered as he let out an audible yawn.

_'Who is this clown,'_ Jaratenn asked himself. "Yeah, I'm looking for a guy named Dark Lord."

The man let out another large yawn. "Speaking..."

Jaratenn's jaw almost dropped to the ground. _'I- is he serious! You gotta be kidding me!'_

"And you would be..."

Jaratenn shook his head, whether or not this was in fact Dark Lord, he didn't come all the way just to turn away with a "never mind." It just wasn't going to happen. "I want to become a Rogue!"

Dark Lord's eyes narrowed. "You?" The man laughed as he dropped from the ceiling and flipped to the ground. "You must be joking."

Jaratenn's eyes flared at Dark Lord's remark. "Whadda ya mean I must b-"

Jaratenn was cut short when he felt a dagger press against his throat. "That's exactly what I mean... You're slow, you jump to conclusions, and you don't keep your eyes sharp and alert." Dark Lord pressed the dagger against Jaratenn's throat a little harder. "Can you actually tell me that you're prepared for a life in the shadows? Can you face danger and look at it dead in the eye? If you become a Rogue, you'll be in far more danger that just a silly little knife against your throat!"

Jaratenn tightened his fist. "I said I want to become a Rogue... And I meant it. I'll do anything to become one..."

Dark Lord's dagger pressed into Jaratenn's throat even harder, but Jaratenn didn't budge, he was prepared for anything Dark Lord threw at him. Suddenly, Dark Lord pulled the dagger away. "OK."

"W- Wha?"

"Like I said, OK." Dark Lord walked over to the spot where he was hanging upside down, and leaned against the wall. "To be a Rogue, one must be prepared to risk his or her well being fulfill his task. We must be honest and dishonest at the right time, we must always be along the thin line of good and evil, and we must always keep our eyes sharp." Dark Lord lifted his hand, and a bright, golden aura began to surround Jaratenn, before fading just as quickly as it appeared. "There you go; you're officially a Rogue now."

"J- Just like that?"

"What did you expect? A few hand signs? Then some giant fox to pop out and devour your soul or something?"

"Nothing extreme like that... Just... How anti-climatic."

Dark Lord turned around and opened a secret door, as he entered it; he turned his head towards Jaratenn. "Right now, you're simply a Rogue; consider that title as something similar to 'trainee,' because until you are strong enough in my eyes, you're just that." And with that, Dark Lord closed the door behind him, leaving Jaratenn to stand there, contemplating in what exactly he got himself into.


	6. Brief Collision

_Chapter 5: Brief Collision_

Near the city of Kerning, there lays a swap filled with dangerous and powerful reptiles, all waiting and prepared to pounce on unsuspecting travelers. But, at this moment, something, or some body to be more exact, was more dangerous than the tree climbing gators.

"AUGGH!"

A Warrior in brown leather armor fell from a tree, and made a hard impact with the ground. Followed by a Magician, tossed in the same fashion, and made an impact into the ground in the same fashion as the Warrior. The Warrior slowly sat up and placed his hand on his sword. But as he attempted to pull his blade out, and shadow suddenly flashed in front of him and gave him a full force kick to his jaw.

The shadow stood over both, his grin shining from what little moonlight penetrated to trees. "You have something that belongs to me," the teen muttered as he knelt down and dug into the Magician's pockets, pulling out a small bag.

"... Heh, piece of cake..."

000

Jaratenn sat on top of the highest point in Kerning. His mind completely lost in thought. He finally became a Rogue, but Dark Lord's words made an impact with the teen. "I have a long way to go... To become worthy of the title 'Rogue...' The real question is, can I do it?" Jaratenn growled as he wildly shook his head and jumped to his feet. "I can't start thinking like that now dammit! I'm a bloody Rogue! Not some pansy Snail!" Jaratenn jammed his hands inside his pockets and began to make his way down the stairs. "First thing's first... I need new gear; there should be a shop on the edge of town... I hope nothing cost too much."

Jaratenn actually had quite a bit of money, he found that if you helped people along your travels, they would want to repay. At first, Jaratenn tried to refuse, since it simply felt like helping others was just the thing to do, but eventually, the always convinced him to take the generous offer.

As Jaratenn walked in lost thought, another Rogue was just exiting the same shop Jaratenn was headed for. Most of his dirt blonde hair was hidden under his red and white cap. He wore a ragged Chinese martial art's outfit, and had a pair of knives latched onto his belt. After his confrontation with two unsuspecting wanderers earlier, he suddenly had enough to upgrade his gear. The teen grinned as he tossed the now empty sack in a nearby trash can. "I should really thank them the next time I see them."

The blonde chuckled as he walked along the streets, not looking where he was going.

Neither was Jaratenn.

Eventually, the two ran into each other's shoulders. The Mysterious blonde sharply turned around and gave Jaratenn a sharp glare "Hey! Watch where you're going chump!"

Jaratenn slowly turned his head, still somewhat dazed. But the second he met with the other's Rogues eyes, he was suddenly snapped back into reality. For a moment, which felt like eternity, the two stared at each other. "Sorry," Jaratenn lazily muttered as he turned his head around and continued towards the shop.

"Clown," the blonde snorted under his breath as he turned and went his own way.

Neither of the two knew it, but at that very moment, both of their fates were drastically changed.


	7. The Trouble With Mushrooms

_**Chapter 6: The Trouble with Mushrooms.**_

Jaratenn pulled his claws back to make sure they were on correctly as he exited Kerning. With the large sum of money he had, he was able to buy new, tougher clothing, as well as two Garniers, a sack of Wolbis, and a cheaply made dagger. He had planned on heading towards Perion, a rocky village east of Kerning, but first he had to make sure he learned the basic skills of a Rogue. Fortunately, he had heard rumors that the monsters just out side of Kerning towards Perion were on the aggressive side, and were overpopulated, so it wouldn't be any dirt on his soul if he shaved the population a little.

Jaratenn jumped onto a warning sign and up onto a higher walkway. As he turned to his left, he noticed a very familiar, angry squeak invading his ears. The Rogue gave a sneer as right hand swiftly went for his sack of stars. The orange creature jumped into the air as Jaratenn tossed a wolbi towards it. The creature made an attempt land on Jaratenn, who rolled away, and as he pushed himself to his feet, made a front flip as he monkey-kicked the creature away.

"Mushrooms, where in hell won't they spawn?!"

Jaratenn pulled out two more stars, and without hesitation, hurled them at the large Mushroom. As the stars neared the Mushroom however, a sudden blue flash sliced both stars in two, making all four pieces to miss the now running Mushroom.

"The hell?!" Jaratenn didn't have time to figure out what just happened, nor did he have time to chase the fleeing Mushroom, because he to dodge a set of rapidly approaching orbs of energy aimed at him. Jaratenn back flipped from the first orb, then rolled to his right to avoid the other three aimed for his head. Jaratenn quickly adjusted his body into a defensive position and pulled out three stars in one hand, while he held the Dagger in his other hand. His arms were raised into an X, leaving just enough space for him to see while he was in the "ready to strike back" guard position.

_'Those orbs must have been energy blots' _Jaratenn thought, _'but who the heck shot them?!'_

"Show your self Mage" Jaratenn called out, knowing that whoever attacked him must have been somebody of the Magician class. As he remained in the defensive position, Jaratenn looked up, following a loud, arrogant laugh. Up on an old, abandoned crane, stood a Magician. Jaratenn couldn't see any of the Magician's features, because his entire body was hidden behind a thick black cloak, and his face was covered by the cloaks hood's shadow. "Why did you attack me?!"

"To prevent you from harming that innocent creature!"

"Huh?!" Jaratenn thought about it for a second, then his eyes narrowed as he realized the man was talking about the Mushroom that attempted to pounce him earlier. "You mean that Mushroom?! You tried to fry me with magic over a damn MUSHROOM?!"

"You reek of Mushroom's blood..."

"So what if I am? You can't travel around Maple Island without offing a few of those bouncing freaks!"

As if what Jaratenn said was the most offensive thing that could be said, the Magician growled as he charged two more Energy Bolts and fired them at Jaratenn. The Rogue quickly dodged the first bolts and blocked the second with his dagger. As the Magician charged a third Energy Bolt, Jaratenn quickly countered by hurling a pair of Wolbis towards him. The Magician destroyed the stars with ease, but lost sight of Jaratenn.

That is, until a third star slice his arm from behind.

Jaratenn used his first two stars as decoys to throw the mage off, so he could make a few quick jumps up the ladder up to the top of the crane and catch the unsuspecting Magician by surprise. The Magician didn't bother to turn, knowing that Jaratenn had his dagger pressed into his lower back. "I think you owe somebody an apology."

The Magician began to laugh again, only this time, the arrogance was replaced by a feeling of psychotic intent. "The day of the Mushroom's abuse will soon end... The Mushrooms had once ruled this land, and they will again!"

"Somebody's been sniffing the spores lately, no?"

The Magician suddenly moved forward and swung back at Jaratenn, his arm charged with magic energy. Jaratenn ducked and swung his blade upwards to counter the Magician before he could attack again. But as Jaratenn's blade cut into the Magician's cloak, he disappeared into mid air, only a piece of cloth with a symbol on it, was left behind as it floated onto Jaratenn's shoe. "He could teleport?! Could he have been a- No, couldn't have been..."

Jaratenn picked up the cloth and looked at the emblem. It was an orange outline of a Mushroom, and under it, laid the words "The Mushroom Revolution."

Jaratenn looked to the sky and took a long deep breath. "Why do I... Get the feeling... I stepped into something big..." Jaratenn sniffed the air a few more times, and then looked down in disgust. "Ew... Mushroom droppings!"


	8. Mad Dash to Perion

_**Chapter 7: Mad Dash to Perion**_

Jaratenn gave a long sigh as he look at the scene below him. The path he had to cross to get to Perion was filled with walking stumps, and brown pigs with thick, sharp tusk. He heard that a few travelers thought it would be funny to startle a few of the local monsters by tossing around magic and ninja stars around. Needless to say, the two learned their lessons, and now the monsters are on high alert. "This is going to get ugly," he muttered as he tightened the grip of his dagger and stood for his hiding spot. "Time to go!"

Jaratenn jumped off the large rock, and landing on the rock ground below on one knee, instantly grabbing the attention of all the nearby monsters, particularly the boars. "You want me-" Jaratenn cut himself short as he made a top speed run past the now shocked and confused monsters. "Then come and get me!"

Jaratenn got a clean head start as both the Stumps and the Boars looked at each other in pure confusion, before they realized that not only were they just insulted, but was being outran by a human of all things. The Boars squealed in blind rage as they stomped their hooves into the hard dirt and chased after Jaratenn, the Stumps far behind due to their slow nature. Jaratenn jumped over one stump with an axe imbedded in its head, while the boar closes behind him ran right into the stump with enough force to make the wood go airborne. Jaratenn easily outran the stumps and out smart the boars, which made getting to a safe spot on the other side fairly easy. After slowly catching his breath, Jaratenn couldn't help but laugh at the boars angrily hoofed at the area below, in sheer anger that they couldn't catch the intruder. "Sorry boys, but this is one wolf that doesn't get cooked, HA!"

Jaratenn took one more look at the angry creatures, still trying to find a way to chase him down, and snorted as he turned and began to move towards Perion. It wasn't long before he heard the cries of the boars echo the otherwise empty rocks of Perion. "Guess they finally gave up." Suddenly, another, more human scream echoed. "Or, they found somebody else to pick on!"

* * *

The stumps moved in their zombie like manor, their roots moving around like snakes, the boars' drool soaked the ground as they surrounded the new intruders. They snorted aggressively and rubbed their tusk into the now soft dirt, stamped their hoofs, and squealed in anger, this being the third time their space has been invaded. Ayan held her spear tightly and kept her stance, periodically swinging the tip of the spear to keep the Boars and stumps at bay. She had no intention of letting the monsters attack her, or her injured comrade. Ayan remained calm, on the outside at least to make sure the injured man behind him wouldn't lose his cool, but in truth, she was panicking, and her personal fears were getting the best of her.

The boars felt it was time to make a move, and began to advance towards the two at full speed. Ayan sneered and tightened the grip on her spear, tight enough to have the loose wood cut into her hands. One boar took the lead and jumped towards Ayan, who in return quickly sliced the tusk off the boar in one swing, and made a thrust into its throat. She attempted to pull the blade out, but no such luck, it was stuck, leaving her and the injured warrior open for a brutal thrashing. One boar took advantage of Ayan's struggle, and bashed it's skull into her left side, forcing her to lose her balance and stumble into the roots of a Dark Stump. Ayan struggled to escape the roots, but the more she tried to get away, the tighter the Stump's grip became. The grip became so tight, Ayan's sight began to blur and black out, she didn't notice the mass of flying bark in the distance.

One boar far in the back met the back side of a flying stump head first, before both were taken out by a pair of stars. Jaratenn took deep, fast paced breaths as he readied his dagger, a psychotic look in his eyes.

"Leave..."

The Boars hesitated, as if the sudden return of Jaratenn and his sudden urge to fight frightened them. Jaratenn acted as if he was ready to fight all of the boars by himself, without any sort of mercy, but it was actually a bluff. The Rouge wanted nothing more than to force the stumps to let the girl go, and leave all three of them alone, just long enough for them to escape. The two sides stood in a silent standoff for what seemed like hours, until the boar snorted, and made a path for Jaratenn, still unsure what they should do. Jaratenn did not hesitate, making sure that he didn't lose his bluff for even a second, he moved forward, staring straight at the still bound woman. The Boars snorted and growled, trying to frighten Jaratenn, waiting for even a small chance, a short opening, to attack him. The stump holding Ayan slowly released its tight bind on her, allowing her to safely slump to the hard dirt, and moved away as Jaratenn came near, his eyes still holding the deadly intent.

Jaratenn knelt down, and pulled her arm around his neck before slowly standing up and shifting his eyes over to the silent monsters. "Are you still here? I told you to scram..."

The boars cried out, their screams echoing across the land, before they turned and stampeded away; the stumps used their roots to slither their way to safety, far from the three. Jaratenn let out a long sigh as soon as it was clear to give away his bluff. "Damn that was close." Ayan slowly regained her strength, and tried to stand on her on feet. "Whoa, take it easy."

"That cry," Ayan muttered as she stood on her own feet, "they're calling for reinforcements... Stronger... Reinforcements... We need to find a spot to hide out until morning."

_'Stronger?'_ Jaratenn gave it a long thought as he picked up the injured shoulder onto his shoulder and looked towards Ayan. "Alright."

* * *

The fire cackled as Ayan poked at the fire with the metal tip of her spear. The dead Stump and Boar proved to be of use as the Stump kept the fire going, and the boar gave them something to eat for the night. Jaratenn leaned against the cave wall, close to the entrance, watching the night's sky, playing with a star. The Rouge put his star away, and moved back towards the fire. As he sat down, Jaratenn picked up another hunk of wood and tossed it into the fire to keep the flame going.

"Thank you..."

Jaratenn raised his eyes the sudden broken silence throwing off his train of thought. "Hmm?"

"I didn't... Thank you for saving us earlier."

"There's no need to thank me. It's kinda my fault they were in such a bad mood."

"Oh..."

Ayan continued to poke the fire, careful to not get close to the stump corpse. "How are your hands," Jaratenn asked, giving a short glance at her bandages.

"Better, the pain stopped a while ago."

Jaratenn Shifted a right leg so he could lean on it, feeling uncomfortable, both mentally and physically. Jaratenn dug into his right pocket, and pulled out a piece of cloth. The same piece that the wizard left behind.

"What's that?"

"This? I ran into some psycho path Wizard near Kerning. Freak almost burnt me to a crisp over a few Mushrooms. Before I could beat any info out of him, he teleported away…"

Both Jaratenn and Ayan looked towards the injured man, who, until now, was silent. Now he was coughing, and trying to sit up, regardless of the bandages trying to keep him down. "The... Cloth..."

Ayan quickly stood to her feet. "Fang, you shouldn't be moving," she calmly said as she gently pushed Fang back down. "You should rest."

Fang coughed as he lay back down. "I will... But please, let me see the cloth..."

Jaratenn stood up and placed his hand on Ayan's shoulder to assure her it was okay; it was obvious to him that the injured Warrior would not rest easy until he saw the piece of cloth. He knelt down and placed the small piece into Fang's working hand, then stood back up. Fang lifted the piece and looked at it with his working eye. "My guess was right... It is them..."

"Who?"

Fang turned his head to the two. "The Mushroom Cult..." Fang turned his head back to its normal position, the strain not allowing him to look towards Ayan and Jaratenn. "It's a group of monsters fanatical... Particularly for the Mushrooms... Recently, they've been attacking anybody who is fighting against the massive population of Mushrooms, they show no mercy, and have been terrorizing many. Fortunately for Perion, there are not as many Mushrooms here, as there are in Ellina and Henesys... But their threats of war against all who harm Mushrooms... It worries the Four... Athena of Henesys has already confronted a few of the cult members, but where they lack in individual strength, they make up in numbers..."

"A war..." Jaratenn balled up his fist.

"I thought the war was just an empty threat, you mean to say these psychopaths are serious?"

"We are not sure yet, it still seems too much like false hype; but with the recent attack on Athena, every high ranked fighter in the four sections is on high alert."

Fang began to violently cough again. "Okay, that's enough Fang, rest now."

Jaratenn returned to the cave's entrance, once again staring at the sky. Ayan, although she only knew the rouge for a short period of time, could tell what Fang had said, put Jaratenn into some sort of mood. She walked over to the other side of the cave wall, and leaned against it, not looking at the Rouge directly. "Something on your mind?"

Jaratenn snapped back into reality and look back towards Ayan. "Yeah, kinda..." Jaratenn looked back at the stars, using them to calm his mind. "I'm just contemplating what I should do next."

"You're not thinking of confronting the Cult, are you?"

"No, not really, but since they are attacking those fighting Mushrooms, I have a feeling I'll run into them again. I'm just wondering; if I do so happen to run into one of them, what should I do? Back away, or fight back..." Jaratenn shook his head. "No matter, they're just a bunch of chumps chewing on some kinda of fungus; this'll blow over soon enough."

* * *

The next morning, the three arrived at Perion; the other village warriors were more than happy to see Ayan and Fang alive. The leader of Perion wanted to thank Jaratenn with a feast, but the rogue refused, feeling that he wasn't a hero, just another wandering claw wielder. He didn't have any intent on staying in Perion anyways, Jaratenn wanted to continue exploring Maple Island, to get a better feel of his new home.

"Where are you headed next," Ayan asked as Jaratenn stood in front of the entrance to Perion's lower region.

"Most likely Henesys, I always wanted to see the town that made the greatest Archers."

"If you're really going to Henesys... Could you do me a favor?" Ayan handed Jaratenn a letter. "It's... For my father, I cannot give it to him myself, so..."

"Sure, I'm going to be wandering Henesys anyways."

"Thank you, Jaratenn."

"No problem," Jaratenn turned towards the entrance and waved as he walked off. "Farewell for now."


	9. Of Daggers and Stars

**Chapter 8: Of Daggers and Stars**

Jaratenn didn't know how, didn't know why, but he felt gravity pulling him with immense force. His memory was fuzzy, his head was swimming, it was almost as if...

Jaratenn snapped his eyes open, now aware of his situation. As he fell, he quickly reached out, took hold of a vine, and swung onto solid ground. As he slid on the slippery grass, a black shadow swung off the same vine and swung at Jaratenn, who quickly held up his right arm and blocked the attack. The attacker spun around and lifted his foot to round house back kick Jaratenn, who ducked under the foot, and shot back up with a uppercut aimed for the attacker's jaw.

Whoever was attacking Jaratenn leaned back and rolled into a back flip to get far enough from Jaratenn to avid being hit. This gave Jaratenn enough time to get a hold of the situation.

_Jaratenn had made it to the cave that led to Henesys as well as Kerning, but before he was allowed to go in, the entrance guard warned him that there had been a rash of muggings inside the cave. Jaratenn simply told the guard that the chances of some chump trying to rob him was slim to none. He soon regretted that remark; as soon he was far enough away from the guard, somebody called out "chump huh?!" Naturally, Jaratenn turned around, only to meet with a fist to his jaw with enough strength to toss him off the edge._

Now the Rogue was stuck in this situation, the spot he was in was dark, so he couldn't get a good look on his attacker. The attacker made the first move, as he rushed forward. Jaratenn prepared himself for another string of hand to hand combat attacks, but the a sudden gleam of metal forced him to pull out a star and blocked what looked to be a dagger. Jaratenn jumped as far back as he could, but the attacker didn't allow him room nor time as he repeatedly slashed and stabbed towards the Rogue. Jaratenn dodged as fast as the attacker dealt them, but the attacker was just as, if not faster than him, and with head still spinning, the attacker got in a few cuts on Jaratenn's right cheek and the left side of his abdomen.

_'I can't keep this up'_ Jaratenn thought, 'I can't keep waiting for an opening, that might not even exist!'

Ironically, Jaratenn's opening suddenly made its appearance as the attacker swung diagonally upward. Jaratenn dodged the blade, took hold of the wrist, and rolled backwards, taking the attacker with him. As he released his hold, Jaratenn tossed the attacker on his back a few feet away from him. Jaratenn hand sprung up and twisted to face the slowly rising attacker. Jaratenn ran at full throttle as the attacker stood to his feet. By the time he noticed the on coming Rogue, Jaratenn connected his fist with the attacker's nose, and sent both of them over the edge onto two separate chunks of ground.

In the midst of the two clouds of dust, both Jaratenn and the attacker stood up, Jaratenn rising up first. He used his left forearm to cover his nose and mouth from the dust as he used his right hand to clear it away from his sight. The area the two landed was better lit, giving Jaratenn the chance to see who attacked him as soon as the dust cleared. The attacker coughed as he cleared the dust from his sight, giving Jaratenn exactly what he wanted. As the two looked at each other, they remained in the spots, the sudden feeling of Deja Vu hitting them. Both wonder where they have seen each other, they knew that it was too convient to remember one another's face, but never had met. Then they realized it and both called out.

"YOU!"

It was the same Rogue that he ran into from Kerning, why he remembered a accidental meeting was beyond him, but he knew it was the same person. "Just who in blazing jack rabbit hell are you, and why did you jump me?! What do you want" Jaratenn yelled as he pulled out a star.

The blond Rogue took two quick steps forward before jumping into the air, his two daggers crossed in a X as he came down towards Jaratenn. "I want what you got!"

'Well that's one answer' Jaratenn though as he back flipped away, expecting the blond Rogue to come crashing down at him while swinging his blades. The Rogue quickly recomposed himself and shot towards Jaratenn swinging his blade, Jaratenn quickly leaned back and back flipped again, this time trying to swing his feet up to kick the Rogue in his jaw. The Rogue quickly side stepped Jaratenn's feet and kept the flow of his attacks. Jaratenn was constantly dodging the two blades, he side stepped the first stab, ducked under the swing, and leaned to one side to avoid the double slash. He took complete advantage of his attacker's split second loss of balance due to the double slash, and swung his leg around for a round house. The blond Rogue ducked under Jaratenn's foot and trapped it between his hooked arms and his chest, and with sheer force, tossed Jaratenn into a wall.

Jaratenn's back, and right arm made hard impact with the wall before he fell to another spot in the ever descending cave. The blond rogue, thinking that Jaratenn was out cold, jumped down, but while he was in mid air, Jaratenn jumped to his feet, and front flipped, extending his body in mid air. Jaratenn's right foot made hard impact with the blond, with enough force to send him crashing down in the ground. Jaratenn landed on his feet, his right leg stretched out, he slowly shifted his right leg backwards, preparing to strike in case the blond Rogue decided to attack again. Jaratenn quickly fell flat on his back when he realized the blond Rogue used some sort of skill to sneak behind him, and lifted his feet to his chest. Jaratenn hand sprung up and backwards, using the force of the spring to launch the blond far back.

Jaratenn, moved forward, not letting his offensive onslaught chance to slip. He slid to a stop and swung his right leg in a roundhouse toward the blond attacker's head, the blond Rogue ducked under Jaratenn's foot, and jumped over the follow up spinning trip. Jaratenn spun once more, this time connecting the back of his hand into the blond Rogue's sternum, and quickly followed it up with a jumping double stomp kick. The blond Rogue used one arm to block Jaratenn's feet, and with every once of strength, pushed Jaratenn far back and high in the air.

Jaratenn flipped to regain sense of balance, and in mid air, began to hurl as many stars as he could toss towards the blond, who dodged each one. But as the blond moved right in front of a wall, Jaratenn expertly landed on the ground and hurled five more stars, each pinning a piece of the blond Rogue's clothing to the wall behind him.

_'This ends now!'_ Jaratenn thought as he rushed towards the trapped Rogue, his right fist tightened and was ready to smash his attacker's head into the wall. The blond Rogue struggled to escape the stars that pinned him, and at the cost of a few long, thin cuts on his arms, clasped his hands together to call up a skill, just as Jaratenn trusted his fist forward. Jaratenn's hand instead made impact with the wall, as the blond Rogue took hold of the vine above him and flipped up to a higher spot. Jaratenn took a few steps back to look up, as the blond grinned and waved a wallet in the air. "Hey, what th-" Jaratenn quickly checked his pockets, realizing that the wallet looked extremely familiar. "SON OF A-"

"Gee, what an embarrassing baby picture you got here, maybe I'll keep this."

Jaratenn jumped up to strike the thief, but as he landed, the blond Rogue dropped the wallet and disappeared. "Dammit... He must've been using dark sight," Jaratenn muttered to himself as he knelt down and picked up his wallet. He checked inside and was quickly relived when he saw that his picture was still there, but as he checked the spot where he left his money, the only thing that remained was a note.

_"You've just been robbed by Kyzoru the Great, be honored."_ The note had a picture of a blond chibi figure giving the double bird.

Jaratenn sneered as the crumpled the paper in one hand and tossed it away. "Arrogant son of a... To hell with it."

Fortunately for Jaratenn, the wallet only had a 100 gold in it, he always left most of his money in a secret spot in his clothing. Kyzoru may have thought he won the confrontation, but Jaratenn had him out smarted to the very end.

**

* * *

**Author's Note: I know some, if not all were confused about the chapter involving Jaratenn running into another Rogue, but nothing happening, I tend to put stuff in such an anoying cliff hanger, people start screeming at me. I wanted to hold the confrontation off a little while longer, but I decided it was time to give the readers (if there are any,) what they wanted. A Rogue on Rogue brawl! 


	10. The Revolution Strikes!

**Chapter 9: The Revolution Strikes!**

The sun's rays lit the land surrounding Henesys brightly, as it always did. The birds chirped and the drowsy monsters slowly stretched out, preparing to terrorize unsuspecting travelers until nightfall. To many. the light was a welcoming thing, unfortunately, the light wasn't so kind to people who were stuck in a cave for a few days.

Jaratenn shielded his eyes while cursing every nasty word in his vocabulary under his breath. Never did the Rogue have gotten so lost so many times until just recently. Unfortunately, Jaratenn's warped sense of direction had him run into plenty of strong and mean spirited monsters that he was forced to battle. Jaratenn became far stronger by the constant battles, but at the same time, his endurance has greatly weakened.

"Never... Again..." Jaratenn muttered, vowing that he would never venture into that cave unless it was absolutely necessary. He pushed himself away from the walled he leaned on with a short grunt, and pulled out a map. "By the looks of it, I'm only an hour or so from Henesys, thank the dragons..." Jaratenn rolled the map back up and placed it back in his pocket before moving forward. He walked along the constant hills with his hands jammed inside his pockets. He watched the clouds in the sky move in the sky, his mind now wandering as he finally began to relax, and let his guard down slightly.

That was, until he heard screams.

Jaratenn stopped in his tracks, and for once, thought about his actions. If he hadn't stopped and thought about it, he'd jump in to assist, at the risk of getting his butt handed to him on a silver platter. But the more he thought about playing it safe this time, the more his right leg began to twitch, almost like a rabbit, prepared to bolt away from a hungry wolf.

"AW DAMMIT," Jaratenn yelled as he turn and jumped, hoping the trees would give him the advantage in the possible fight, for once he wanted the upper hand.

* * *

Four men in black hooded cloaks gathered around a man in a white lab coat. Clumps of drying mud caked on the lab coat man's short goatee as well as the right side of his face, his clothes were covered in dirt and grass stains. He slowly shifted his body from lying on his bruised side, to sitting up to look towards his attackers. "Whatever you want, I do not have! I'm just a biologist!"

The largest of the four cloaked men huffed as he lifted his hood. His dark orange hair was styled to stick up and slightly backwards into spikes, his cold crimson eyes oddly matched his pale grayish-blue skin. "That's not entirely true Doctor Bruce. We know you've been researching Mushrooms for quite some time now."

"But I don't see w-"

The man cut Bruce off. "We would like your research documents, all of them. So if you would be so kind..."

"With all due respect," Bruce started and he ground his teeth and stood to his feet, "I refuse to allow you to see any of my research without knowing your motive!"

Two of the cloaked men began to move forward, but the pale skinned man held out of left arm, signaling them to stay put. "Doctor... I fear that you fail to understand that if you do not allow us access to those documents, there will be some... Dire consequences..."

Bruce grimaced "I understand perfectly."

The large man sighed, now aware that he could not avoid the inevitable. "Very well," he muttered, as he pushed the right side of his cloak aside, revealing his large spear that looked very similar to a heavy bladed Zanbatou. At the spot where the blade connected to the pole, where pure gold Chinese markings that apparently held the two pieces together, the pole was worn out Kerning Swamp Wood, the wears were most likely thanks to constant battling, but was still sturdy as held the blade; the giant blade also had wears from previous fights, but still looked sharp and dangerous. "I am truly sorry it had to end this way Doctor..." The man lifted the large blade and held it in the air, as if he was stalling to allow Bruce to think about his decision for a few seconds longer, or at least think about his loved ones.

"Ayan..."

The large man swung the blade back a little before swinging down perfectly aimed for Bruce's head.

However, his swinging motion came to a halt.

The man looked toward his left, a black star, one of its blade points cut off, stuck in the ground. He then towards his spear, a small gash in the middle of the blade was now there. His calm expression didn't change as he looked towards the path the star took. Sitting on one of the large trees was Jaratenn, his expression, much like the spear wielding warrior's, was a cold and clam one. The Rogue held two more stars in his hand, tossing them into the air as if they were jacks.

"A friend of yours Doctor," the large man asked.

"No," Jaratenn called out as he stood up. "But, seeing as I have a letter for him, and I just so happen to be walking by.. I figured I'd join in the party."

The man huffed as he finally took his attention completely off of Bruce, and onto Jaratenn. "Eliminate the boy, show him how the Revolution handles spoiled children," was all the man had to say before the three cloaked fighters who stood still until his orders were dealt out, and split into three spots. Jaratenn could tell easily they weren't Warriors, since they were too fast to be worn down by armor, nor were they too strong for him to deal with, his instinct told him that much without him having to waste time making sure he was right.

Jaratenn decided to make quick work of the nearest Cloaked Revolutionary by double staring the cloaked attacker's cloth to a tree, giving Jaratenn plenty of time to jump down and knock his attacker out easily with a side kick to the jaw. Jaratenn thought he would have to deal another sidekick, but instead made a dodging jump to his right sensing magic coming towards him. The orb of blue magic instead hit the man pinned to the tree, who screamed in agony and passed out. "Well... That takes care of one of them..." Jaratenn quickly moved as the Magician prepared another orb of energy. The second Cloaked Revolutionary shifted his cloak aside and tossed a star toward Jaratenn, forcing him to halt his consistent dodging and to move another direction. The Cloaked Rogue constantly forced Jaratenn to switch his path, not only making it hard for him to maintain a dodging pace, but the sudden forced stops had to be straining the endurance of his feet.

The quick barrage of stars came to a halt as Jaratenn was pinned to a tree. If he tried to escape, the Rogue could easily take him out, thanks to not many places Jaratenn could get to with the stars in his way; if he stayed still, he was a sitting duck waiting for the shooter to open fire.

The Rogue didn't wait long to open fire a set of stars towards Jaratenn. Jaratenn smirked as he jumped up and landed on the now pinned to the tree stars. His feet landed on the stars with ease, not affected by the sharp points. The Rogue grunted as he tossed more stars, in which Jaratenn easily dodged and ran towards him at full force, on the star stuck in the ground no less. Jaratenn quickly jumped into the air and swung his foot, connecting it with the Rogues jaw. The force was more than enough to vault him into a 540 spin upside down, before crashing head first into the dirt and spinning another 540 degrees until the rest of his body fell.

Jaratenn landed on the dirt and slid while turning, already preparing himself for his last obstacle. Jaratenn moved forward, dodging each orb of magic headed towards him. The Magician charged one giant ball of energy and shot it towards the Rogue. Jaratenn quickly replied to the attack with a front flip, his heel connecting with the orb, sending it back to the off guard Magician at full force. The magic orb made a hard impact with the Magician, knocking the attacker unconscious with ease.

Jaratenn slowly stood up, his eyes now locked on the large man before him. The Rogue's eyes changed from the cool, calm, laid back look they normally showed, to one of a tiger staring down its prey. Jaratenn only uttered two word towards the unknown Warrior.

"You're next..."

And now a word from our Sponsor: Yeah, I know, it's been too long. Sorry for not updating sooner guys, just been busy with my first semester in college.


	11. The Sparrow and The Boulder

**Chapter 10: The Sparrow and the Boulder **

"You're Next"

The large man didn't change his expression as he lifted his blade and pulled his body into a offensive stance; his left leg stretched out and his right leg was bent and locked. His left hand was slightly bent, while the dull blade of his spear lightly touched his shoulder, and was nearly parallel to his back. The blade was long enough to be near his right knee, and was almost a inch off the ground. Jaratenn has yet pulled himself into a fighting position, his expression, however, changed from cold to confused.

"Is there something wrong," the man asked.

"Nothing? No, claims to victory? No, "your little play games end here?' NOTHING?"

"I prefer not to get ahead of myself in a battle."

Jaratenn readied his dagger in his left hand, and a pair of stars in his right. "Fine then, don't proclaim victory, just don't be disappointed when you can't talk after I break your jaw!" Jaratenn bolted forward, his body slightly twisted to the left so his raised arm was prepared to strike. As he neared the large man, he swung out his dagger, which was easily countered by the large mans sword, easily shifted just enough to block. As the man moved his body to keep from Jaratenn's attacks, his spear barely moved from its defensive position. His arms moved like the rest of his body, but his spear remained nearly the same, as he constantly changed the spot where his hand held onto the pole. Jaratenn kept changing his attack patterns to make it hard for the large man to avoid being injured, but they were all easily dodged. The young Rogue had a hard time understanding how a man with such a large muscular stature could easily out maneuver and block his attacks.

Jaratenn's offense and train of thought was cut abruptly short as the blade came crashing down above him. The Rogue quickly stopped his movement and shot back to dodge, but even if he avoided the blade, the immense force the impact made thrown Jaratenn backwards, and crash rolling on the grassy ground. He quickly regained his sense of balanced and slid across the grass as he pulled himself up. The large man rushed forward and swung at him horizontally, Jaratenn quickly jumped up and landed on the blade's side, then back flipped off as the large man flipped the spear and swung up. Jaratenn dodged and rolled which each and every attack, always in the opposite direction of the blade to avoid the devastating after effects.

The young Rogue rolled backwards to avoid a diagonal slash and it's after effect force, and quickly rolled forward. As he stood upright, Jaratenn jumped above the hulking man and slashed downward with his dagger, which was easily blocked off by the mans unimaginable speed and large blade. Jaratenn kicked himself off the spear's pole into a flip to gain distance. It was odd to the large man, Jaratenn was constantly trying to find a spot to switch sides and get back into a offense, now was his chance. Why pull away?

The answer was abrupt, as he looked up and pair of stars came crashing down. The man quickly shot backwards, giving Jaratenn even more distance and the advantage. The Rogue bolted forward and launched himself high enough to swing his right foot, connecting with the large man's jaw. Jaratenn twisted his body, and connected at the same spot with his left heel, he twisted again, this time while his right foot was stretched down and knocked the man in his jaw again, his left leg was up and out, and as soon as his right left the jaw, his left foot made a hard impact on the back of the huge man's neck, allowing Jaratenn to front flip of behind him. Jaratenn twisted upside down in mid-air and hurled a set of stars at the man's back, who quickly turned towards Jaratenn while pulling back to avoid the stars, and swinging his spear over his head to the ground. The force picked up mass amounts of dirt as it created a devastating force of wind-like energy headed straight for Jaratenn, who could only pick up his arms to his face to block the impact. The force was, however, too powerful for Jaratenn to withstand, and he was slammed into a thick tree with enough force to imprint his body on the tree's trunk.

As Jaratenn landed on the ground with one knee. The large man remained still, his body in the exact same position when he swung his sword down. His expression hadn't changed throughout the whole battle, even when a sudden miscalculation on his part gave him two large cuts on the side of his face. Jaratenn's expression hasn't changed either, too focused on surviving the fight with the immense man. Yet he kept his mind sharp, he figured that the mans strength and speed would prevent Jaratenn from breaking through his defenses head on, but his strategically placed stars would eventually catch him off guard.

The man stood erect, as he mindlessly allowed the blood to flow. Jaratenn hid his shock and annoyance from the man, how could he possibly ignore two stars cutting into his skin like that? What in hell has he been through to keep such a tough exterior, physically and emotionally?!

The man finally wiped the blood from his cheeks with the back of his hand in one stroke. He then sighed as he began to walk forward. "You're smart, which makes up for you lack of physical power. But you're also inexperienced." He dragged his spear on the ground as he neared Jaratenn. "The Doctor will have to wait, you're too much of a threat to the survival of the Mushrooms..."

"Bite me" Jaratenn yelled as he swung his dagger out in front of him for defensive purposes. His eyes snapped to attention as he realized his blade was shattered, he also noticed a searing pain in his right hand, the fact he worn out his protective claw that it, and his hand was shredded by the sharp stars now cutting into his hand. Jaratenn lowered his arm and stood up much to his body's dismay, as he tried to form a plan to stop the man with the intent on killing him, and getting doctor Bruce to safely, at least one that involved him living. The large man lifted his spear up to his shoulder, Jaratenn's body began to react like jelly, the man twisted his body as if he was coiling up like a snake, Jaratenn's eyes became clouded from exhaustion.

The man twisted his body and swung his sword clear across, aimed for Jaratenn's head.

Jaratenn dropped down to his knees.

The sword missed the Rogue only by half a inch, if his instinct hadn't kicked in, Jaratenn would easily have been the next headless ghost story told around the campfire. Jaratenn remained in the position, his body refusing to agree with his brain. This, unfortunately, allowed Jaratenn open to the spear's devastating after effects. The force followed the spears path, the wind causing a tornado like effect, the down force followed by a sharp uplifting force, and in a twisting chaos pushed and pulled at Jaratenn, until the force tore into his body, and whatever grip his knees had on the ground, was torn away, allowing him to shoot across the field like a bullet.

Jaratenn twisted and rolled violently in the air, and even more violently on the hard ground, not even the soft patches of grass permitted him any sort of cushioning impact. He finally came to a halt as his back across the slippery grass for a few more seconds, finally allowing him some comfort from the chaos only seconds before. The force he was caught in and the violent crash landing torn his body to shreds, cuts hidden under blood covered his whole body, a large cut over his forehead oozed out blood, some of which dripped into his right eye. He was conscious, but his body and mind were far apart from each other, even if he could the two to reform and agree with each other, all of his strength had left him.

He barely moved his head; his one clear eye could see the large man was just now making his way to Jaratenn. The young Rogue tried to pull every bit of his will together to move, but the only reaction his body gave was his right hand twitching. The huge man moved closer, his spear lightly lying on his shoulder. Jaratenn could only watch through his closing eye as he neared, his mind was now functioning against him and shutting down. _'Dammit, not now,'_ he mentally screamed at himself, trying to regain control over his natural functions. But it was too much, as the huge man stood over him, his spear still over his shoulder, Jaratenn lost consciousness, the last thing his ears picked up was something cutting through the air, making a whistling sound.

One could only guess what the sound was.


End file.
